Featured Fundamental Baptist Biographies

Laurence Duane Brown was an independent Baptist pastor (New York, Iowa, New Jersey, perhaps others) and was at one time the President of Denver Baptist Bible College & Seminary (which merged into Faith Baptist Bible College & Seminary). I found only one holding of My Cup Runneth Over (2009). It is at the Murphy Library of Clarks Summit University in Pennsylvania. He may still be living, not sure. (He was still living four or five years ago.)

 

About to head out to Ankeny to FBBC with my son for the "Bible Faculty Summit."

 

From the FBBC website, which mentions Brown has two sons on the faculty there:

In the fall of 1985 and the early part of 1986, the Lord brought another circumstance into the picture that had bearing on the proposed seminary. During those months the boards and administrators of Faith and Denver Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary began merger discussions. Dr. Gordon Shipp, Faith’s president, and Dr. L. Duane Brown, Denver’s president (and father of Dr. Doug and Dr. Dan Brown, current FBTS faculty members), led these deliberations. These discussions led to both boards voting in January 1986 to merge the two institutions in the fall of 1986. Since Denver already had a full M.Div. program with students needing to complete their degree, FBTS moved its opening to the fall of 1986, one year ahead of the projected date.

After extensive planning and the merger of the two institutions, Faith Baptist Theological Seminary opened for classes on September 2, 1986. The new seminary offered four degree programs: Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies, Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, and Master of Divinity. The Master of Arts in Religion program was added in 1987 for students who did not have a Bible college background.​

 

One interesting thing about L. Duane Brown is that he designed or refined the “B.A.P.T.I.S.T.S. Acrostic” in the early 1960s, while he was the pastor of Pine Valley Baptist Church in Pine Valley (Millport), New York. He describes its origin this way:

 

September 12, 2019 • Banquet honors former presidents and highlights the 98-year history of Faith Baptist Bible College

"...L. Duane Brown, former president of Denver Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, was also in attendance."

L. Duane Brown, third from left

 

Kenneth Brown and Russell Camp are subjects of A Tribute to Forgotten Scholars by L. Duane Brown.

 

In the John L. Patten Library of Faith Baptist Bible College & Seminary (Ankeny, Iowa).

 

I cannot tell you much, but here are a few bits.

Joshua Gravett was born in England in 1863; came to the US circa 1886.
For many years he was pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado.
He died in 1956 and is buried at the Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado.

 

This PDF might be of interest.
https://denverrescuemission.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2017_Annual-Report.pdf

 

This is now being sold and shipped; it's past the preorder stage.

 

Dr. Ed Nelson went to Heaven early this morning. What a man, with a fascinating life, preaching, evangelizing, missionarying, writing, church planting, and much more.

This autobiography is unique in that Dr. Nelson admits his failures. He was larger than life, so he had some big failures: his wife had a nervous breakdown due to his overwork in the ministry, and his son broke contact with the family and has not been heard from to this day. But those failures make the book even more of a blessing. We all have failures, but God can use each one of us according to His plan.

 

I am currently reading the biography of Ron Bishop, A Winning Legacy. Ron was the athletic director and basketball coach at Tennessee Temple for 10 years back in the 1970's and early 1980's before going on to found SCORE International, a sports-based evangelistic ministry. He took his team to the NCCAA final four eight times, winning the national championship four times. So he could be the top Christian college basketball coach in history.

I bought the book second hand on Amazon very cheaply, but it turned out to be an interesting read. Here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Ron-Bishop-Autobiography-Winning-Legacy/dp/0978874838/ref=sr_1_2?crid=9NWJ9SCFCD9O&keywords=Ron+Bishop+by+ron+bishop&qid=1646852392&s=books&sprefix=ron+bishop+by+ron+bishop,stripbooks,67&sr=1-2

 

The following is a snip from Iain Murray's book The Life Of Arthur W. Pink

The Pinks left Philly Jan. 5, 1925. "The first stage was a three days' train journey to Denver, Colorado, where Pink had to take a main part in the Rocky Mountains Bible Conference, 'speaking two or three times each day to appreciative congregations, the Lord granting us much liberty of utterance.' This was, in Pink's judgment, 'a wonderful season of blessing'. The meetings were held in Galilee Baptist Church, and, with both the pastor (Dr Gravett) and his people, the Pink's 'greatly enjoyed a week of Christian fellowship'. The same week he also addressed a gathering of Baptist pastors from the city and its suburbs on the subject of expository preaching." (pages 82,83)